Cabinet latch



3, 1943- J. w. SAMZELIUS 2,326,069

CABINET LATCH Filed Nov. 26, 1941 a 15 LA? I! [6' /z.=j 17 .4; J0

WITNESSES: 16 J INVENTOR @amae i/j.

Patented Aug. '3, 1 9 43 I t warren. was smear OFFICE i nette 2,326,069. CABINET LA'rcn John-W. Samzclius; Forest Hills, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company,-. East Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania Pa, a corporation of Application November'26, 1941, Serial No. 420,518 Claims. (01. 292-128) My invention relates, generally, to cabinets or. boxes and; more particularly, to safety latches for the covers of boxessuit'able for enclosing safety switches or motor starting switches and the like. 1

The safety latches for switch cabinets with which I am familiar require some machining operationssuch as. riveting or the like, in the ssembly of the latch on-the cabinet. Such operations arenot onlyexpensive but are almost. impossible to. perform withoutidamaging the paint finish on thecabinet which. is applied prior to the. assembly of the. latch. and switch mecha nisms.

An object of my invention; generally stated; is to provide a latch for the cover of an enclosing cabinet which shall be simple. andv reliable. in operation and which may be economically manufactured and installed.

A. more specific object of. my invention is to provide alatch which-may be readily assembled on a cabinet.

Another objector my invention is to provide a I latch whichrnay beadjusted'tosecure the cover tightly in positionon the cabinet.

' Other objects of my inventicnwill be explained fully hereinafter or willv be apparent to. those sltilledimthe art;

Accordingrto one embodiment of my invention. the catch portion of a. latch .is' supported. by. tongues lanced out of. the cabinetlby a. single- The catch is retainedon the tongues operation. byaspring which also biases the catch against the cover. g

For-a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of my invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction the accompanying drawing in which: 7

Figure l is a view, in front elevation, of a portion of a switch cabinet having a latch constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is aview, in side elevation, of the late and a portion of the cabinet; 7

Fig. 3 is a view, in section, taken along the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded View, parts of the latch mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, the structure shown therein comprises a cabinet iii, only a portion of which is shown, and a cover H, a portion of which shown, which may be hinged to the cabinet at one side in order that the cover may be opened to provide access to the interior of the in perspective, of

v cabinet. The cabinet Ill and cover II are preferably formedlfrcm sheetsteel and are of the type utilized for enclosing electric switches or other electrical devices.

in order that the cover may be secured in the closed position of the cabinet, a latch mechanism i2 is provided. Ingeneral, the latch mechanism 52 comprises acatch l3 pivotally mounted on a support it secured to the one side of the cabinet, a strap l5 secured to the cover foren'gagement by the catch it and a spring 55 for biasing'the catch into engagement'with the strap l5.

As shown, thesupport Ed is of a rectangular U shape andmay be spot welded onto the cabinet before the paint finish is applied. The. support 9 l may be made in one operation on a punch press has three lance-dout tongues ll, l8 and i9. which are bent inwardlyfrom the bottom of the LL The tongue ii is preferably shaped in the form of the letter T serves as the fulcrum for the catch IS. The projecting tongue" l8 servesas the anchor for one end of the spring H3 .andthe tongue it prevents the catch it from sliding up and down on the fulcrum ll and is disposed in an. opening it which admit the catchover the fulcrum ll.

The catch l3 also has projectioniii similar to the projection lit for anchoring the other end the T-shaped fulcrum ii to pass through the of the spring it. strap lfiisalso of 2. rectangular ll-shape and may be spot; welded to the. cover 1 l. or. secured thereto in any other suitable manner.

The latch maybe assembled by inserting the catch iiifro'mthe top over the T-shaped fulcrum ll. The lower portion of the opening?! is sufdciently large to permitthe wide portion of with its upper end engaging the anchor 22 and the loop 23 is slipped over the T-head of the fulcrum. A suitable tool may now be utilized to pushthe lower end of the spring l6 over the anchor l8 and in so doing the diameter of the loop 23 of the spring will be decreased, thereby preventing the spring from passing back over the head of the fulcrum so long as the spring is under tension. In this manner the spring it functions as a ring key for holding the catch l3 the manner hereinbefore described.

For applications where small openings in the cabinet'are permissible, the fulcrum ii, the anchor l8 and the stop i9 may be punched out directly from the side of the cabinet and the catch E3 may Work in a slot provided in the cover. In this case the catch it will be located inside of the cabinet and the support M and the strap may be eliminated. The catch 43' will be retained in position by the spring E6 in In order to prevent the cover ii 'from rattling on the cabinet, or in case a felt seal is-utilized to insure that the cover is held tightly against the seal, provision is made for adjusting the strap 5 at the point of engagement between th strap and the catch it. As shown most clearly in Fig. l, an elongated slot 2% is provided at the end of the strap l5 which is engaged by the catch l3. The slot 2 5 is of suflicient length to permit a suitable tool, such as a screw-driver, to be inserted in the slot to spread the strap i5 a sufficient amount to cause the catch E3 to engage the strap tightly. If necessary, the adjustment can be made in the opposite direction by pinching the material together with a pair of pliers or other suitable tool. In this manner an adjustmentin either direction may be made easily to compensate for manufacturing variations, thereby insuring that the cover is tightly secured on the cabinet when engaged by the catch i3.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided a latch mechanism which may be readilyv assembled without requiring any of the usual machining operations, such as rivet-' ing. Furthermore, the latch may be constructed with a minimum number. of punching operations, thereby reducing the cost of the apparatus. I

Since numerous changes may be made in the above described construction and different em bodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all the matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustratain the catch on said support, the diameter of said loop being reduced sufiiciently when the spring is under tension to prevent the loop from passing, over sat d shoulder.

2. A latch for a cabinet having a cover comprising a catch for engaging the cover, a pivotal support for the catch, a shoulder on said support, and a spring for biasing the catch into engagement with the cover, said spring having a loop therein disposed between said shoulder and the catch to retain it on said support, said loop being large enough to pass over said shoulder when the spring is released and small enough to be retained on the support when the spring is under tension.

3. A latch for a cabinet having a cover comprising a catch for engaging the cover, a pivotal support for the catch, a shoulder on said support, and a spring for biasing the catch into engagement with the cover, said spring having a loo-p therein disposed between said shoulder and the catch to retain it on said support, said loop being large enough to pass over said shoulder when the spring 'is released and small enough to be retained on the support when the spring is under tension, and means formed integrally with the catch for maintaining the spring under tension.

4. A latch for a cabinet having a cover comprising a catch for engaging the cover, a support for the catch secured to the cabinet and having an integrally formed pivotal support for the catch, a shoulder on said support, and a spring for biasing the catch into engagement with th cover, said spring having a loop therein disposed bctween said shoulder and the catch to retain. it on the support, said loop being large enough to pass over said shoulder when the spring is released and small enough to be retained on the support when the spring is under tension.

5. A latch for a cabinet having a cover cornprising a catch for engaging th cover, a support for the catch secured to the cabinet and having an integrally formed pivotal support for the catch, a shoulder on said support, and a spring for biasing the catch into engagement with the cover, said spring having a loop therein disposed between said shoulder and the catch to port between said shoulder and the catch to reretain it on the support, said loop being large enough to pass over said shoulder when the spring is released and small enough to be retained on the support when the spring is under tension and means formed integrally with the catch and the support for maintaining the spring under tension.

JOHN W. SAMZELIUS. 

